Mississippi's statute (§89-8-21) is among the country's simplest — one clock, one itemization duty, one flat penalty — which concentrates everything on the substance of the deductions themselves.
How much can a landlord charge?
No statutory cap — the lease sets the amount.
The 45-day clock
Within 45 days of tenancy ending and delivery of possession, the landlord must return the balance with a written itemized statement of anything withheld — for unpaid rent, damage beyond reasonable wear and tear, and other lease breaches. Provide a forwarding address in writing; the statement travels by mail.
The penalty
Bad-faith retention costs the landlord $200 plus the tenant's actual damages — one of the mildest penalties nationally, which means Mississippi landlords face little settlement pressure and Mississippi tenants win, when they win, purely on proof. Justice court (small claims to $3,500) is the venue.
Why Mississippi deposit disputes are documentation disputes
A flat $200 penalty deters nobody; the outcome is decided entirely by which party can substantiate the condition story on the itemized statement. In the lowest-stakes-penalty state, evidence isn't just important — it's the whole game.
SealMove wins that game. Every photo and video is cryptographically sealed the instant it's captured, independently timestamped, and locked with Face ID into a tamper-evident archive. At move-out, your walkthrough lines up room-by-room against the sealed baseline — and either party can send the other a report to review and acknowledge, no app required.